The Heartland and the Great Black Swamp – Part VI

Continued from the previous post regarding the answer to Mormon’s clear and precise descriptions, it was shown in the previous post what Mormon meant by the “Small Neck,” the “Narrow Neck,” the Narrow Pass,” and “Narrow Passage,” being connected in relation to one another, and that there is only one place in the entire Land of Promise where they could be located. Once again, the problem for theorists in finding this location, which lies in how they approach Mormon’s information.

As for the Great Black Swamp, which Heartland theorists claim was so large and nearly joined another swampy area called the Grand Kankokee Marsh that it created a narrow neck of land, this latter area was tree-rich with the trees small in comparison with those that stood in the swamp. The original trees of the area formed a splendid deciduous swamp forest, whose diversity of species far surpassed that of beech-maple or oak-hickory combinations of most other similar areas. The heavy cover of massive trees and the black mud below them may have been responsible for the region's name of Black Swamp. Mud and the wind-felled logs that littered it made travel through the swamp difficult and settlement restricted. (Kaycee Hallett, “History of the Great Black Swamp,” The Black Swamp Journal, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, April 14, 2011).

Even in this area of fallen timber, however, a battle was fought in the swamp—the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, between allied Indian tribes of the Western Confederacy led by Miami Chief Michikinikwa, or Little Turtle, along with Tecumseh, Chief Blue Jacket and Chief Bukongahelas, and their British allies, against a legion (a reorganization and extension of the Continental Army from 1792 to 1796) under the command of

Major General “Mad” Anthony Wayne, in the Battle of Fallen Timbers within the Great Black Swamp for control of the Northwest Territory

 

This desperate two-hour battle in August 1794, involving 1500 Americans and 1000 Indians at Fallen Timbers in the Black Swamp, resulted in Wayne’s decisive victory that led to the signing of the Greenville treaty which opened the northwest territory and subsequent white settlement of the area around the Black Swamp—one of the early settlements was Fort Wayne, named in “Mad” Anthony Wayne’s honor, and built two months after his victory at Fallen Timbers, that eventually resulted in present day city of Ft.Wayne, Indiana.

This settlement developed at the confluence of the St. Joseph, St. Marys, and Maumee rivers as a trading post and to secure the territory gained in the battle at Fallen Timbers. Initially, it was one of three forts so named along the western edge of the Black Swamp, with the city being built in 1823 (Carolyn V. Platt, The Great Black Swamp, New Breman Historic Association, New Breman, Ohio, 1987).

The point is, the Black Swamp initially was a 40-mile-wide, 120-mile-long, 1500-square-mile network of forests, wetlands, and grasslands. It was not impassable as Heartland theorists would have us believe in order for them to form their narrow neck of land that provided access from mid-Ohio into southern Michigan through a claimed dry-land area between the Black Swamp and Kankokee Marsh.

There is no question that the swamp hindered early settlement, or normal movement of travel through the swamp, but numerous military units, as well as many tough, dedicated or desperate people crossed the area—though the passing was difficult and extremely disagreeable. 

Thick mud underlain the swamp

 

Deep, thick mud was underfoot—sometimes rising half-way to the knees—and ankle-high standing water trapped by heavy clay soils was rarely more than a foot or two beneath the surface—sometimes rising to waist-high in places. In addition, there were clouds of mosquitoes, high humidity and enormous white and red oaks that dominated the drier parts of the swamp, as small drainage differences produced a great variety of trees, which grew tall and small-crowned as they competed for sun in the canopy. Elm, black ash, sour gum, and silver or red maple shared the wettest spots with pin oak, swamp oak, and sycamore, and there were huge maple and beech, trees that dimmed the daylight, adding to the foreboding appearance of the swamp.

Over time, small drainage differences produced this great variety of trees, which grew tall and small-crowned as they competed for sun in the canopy. Elm, black ash, sour gum, and silver or red maple shared the wettest spots with pin oak, swamp white oak, and sycamore. White ash, buckeye, shell bark hickory, honey locust, black cherry, and red and yellow oak claimed slightly better-drained land, threaded by enormous tangles of grapevine and poison ivy. There were no conifers. On the drier sandy ridges grew beech­-maple or oak-hickory forests. Yet there were spots too wet for even the water-rooted elms and ashes, especially in the Wood and Sandusky regions. Here, before the Europeans came, water stood two or three feet deep, the dark shade opened into prairies where dragonflies hovered in the hot sunlight among waving eight­-foot grasses and tall, showy flowers of yellow, purple, and white.

Few animals or birds lived in the swamp forest, but enough to provide hunting by the local Indians settled around the perimeter of the Black Swamp—varied amphibians and reptiles populated the prairie openings, barred and great horned owls, hairy, red-bellied, and big pileated woodpeckers, along with wild turkeys lived under the trees, with ruffed grouse that scoured the mature forest's dead trees for insects, grubs, and eggs. Passenger pigeons roosted in the beech-maple trees, and Woodland songbirds like red-eyed vireos, scarlet tanagers, flycatchers, redstarts, and exquisite blue cerulean warblers were in the trees.

A white oak in the swamp—they grow to a height of 50–60 feet and a spread of 50–60 feet at maturity

 

Enormous oaks dominating the drier parts of the swamp. Bur oaks were especially adaptable because, unlike many trees, their roots could tolerate water soaking.

It is recorded that the Indians around the swamp, who penetrated it from time to time for various reasons, including hunting, had herbal “miracle cures” for viper, massasauga or swamp rattler bites and other such incidents.

Because the swamp died so quickly, there are few records of changes in small mammal populations, though it seems clear that open country species like deer mice, red foxes, and fox squirrels largely replaced their woodland counterparts, white-footed mice, gray foxes, and gray squirrels. (But gray squirrels still seem to dominate the Bowling Green parks and shade trees.) Brown rats and mice moved into barns and corncribs, though the numbers of gray squirrels remained and even now dominate the Bowling Green—in the center of the Black Swamp area—parks and shade trees. However, the demise of game birds and large mammals is better documented—many taking refuge in the as yet un-drained swamp forest of northwestern Ohio, making the swamp, which had been poor in animal life, a paradise for hunters during the mid-nineteenth century. Hunting parties gathered there each year from more settled parts of the state, but woodcutting and hunting soon eliminated most game species.

Because of concentrated deer hunting between 1869 and 1890, the last deer were wiped out state-wide. Bison and elk, never abundant in the area, vanished by the early years of the nineteenth century; Beaver abandoned the Maumee Valley by 1837; and River otters dwindled throughout the century. Gray wolves and bears were very rare by the 1860s, and the last pair of cougars was killed in 1845, along with the demise of lynxes and wolverines, though Bobcats were reported as being common as late as 1878. 

General Hull’s march through the Black Swamp to save Detroit

 

A final example of penetration into and through the Great Black Swamp is shown when the U.S., concerned about losing Detroit to the British in the War of 1812, sent General William Hull and his army of 3 full regiments plus 300 militia, from Urbana, Illinois, to Detroit. They marched directly from south to north to Bowling Green directly General Hull’s march through the Black Swamp to save Detroitthrough the heart of the Great Black Swamp in Wood County and on to Detroit. A remarkable fete in light of the Heartland theorists’ claim of it being impassable.

The story of the Great Black Swamp and the Grand Kankokee Marsh, as well as the southern extension of Lake Chicago were larger than today, and formed at least by glacial retreat 10,000 years ago, but the point of all this information, is to show that the location of each did not create a narrow neck of land between the present day location of Lake Michigan and Lake Erie, or restrict in any way a very large area providing access from northern Ohio into southern Michigan (the Heartland theorist’s Land Southward and Land Northward).

It is one thing to make a statement, and even support it with hand drawn maps with multiple labels, and something else entirely to have it be a factual indication of historic facts. Obviously, all this information over the past six articles is quite extensive, and a lot of information about this area is not even covered here.

Once again, the point is that most theorists follow their beliefs and opinions, and staunchly support it despite the reams of information available if one cares to take the time and search it out, that shows the opinions and beliefs are just that—and are not factual, let alone do not agree with or match the descriptions Mormon left us.